• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

JANUARY 6, 2009 MINUTES OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS N O R T H C A R O L I N A MECKLENBURG COUNTY The Board of Commissioners of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, met in Informal Session in the Meeting Chamber Conference Room of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center located at 600 East Fourth Street at 5:00 p.m. and in Formal Session in the Meeting Chamber of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 6, 2009. ATTENDANCE Present: Chairman Jennifer Roberts and Commissioners Karen Bentley, Dumont Clarke, Harold Cogdell, Jr. Neil Cooksey, George Dunlap, Bill James Vilma Leake and Daniel Murrey County Manager Harry L. Jones, Sr. County Attorney Marvin A. Bethune Clerk to the Board Janice S. Paige Absent: None. ____________________ -INFORMAL SESSION- The meeting was called to order by Chairman Roberts, after which the matters below were addressed. (1A) STAFF BRIEFINGS - SOUND RECORDING CLOSED SESSIONS (COMMISSIONER JAMES) Commissioner James addressed the recording of Closed Sessions. He noted two alternatives drafted by County Attorney Bethune. Alternate 1 (Excerpt) Sound Recording of Closed Sessions and Disclosure of Sound Recordings and Minutes of Closed Sessions Sound Recording of Closed Sessions The Clerk to the Board of Commissioners shall make a sound recording of all closed sessions of the Board of Commissioners. The sound recordings for each purpose of a closed session shall be kept separately to facilitate public disclosure of sound recordings of those portions of a closed session which may be disclosed. The sound recording of closed sessions shall be held in a confidential file by the Clerk to the Board until either the County Attorney or the Board of Commissioners has determined that public inspection would not frustrate the purpose of the closed session which was recorded. The sound recordings of closed sessions shall be reclassified as no longer needing to be held in confidence when the minutes of the closed session have been reclassified as provided below. Disclosure of Minutes of Closed Sessions 1 JANUARY 6, 2009 Alternate 2 (Excerpt) Sound Recording of Closed Sessions and Disclosure of Sound Recordings and Minutes of Closed Sessions Sound Recording of Closed Sessions The Clerk to the Board of Commissioners shall make a sound recording of all closed sessions of the Board of Commissioners except for closed sessions to “prevent the disclosure of information that is privileged or confidential pursuant to the law of this State or of the United States or is not considered a public record within the meaning of Chapter 132 of the General Statutes” (N.C.G.S. 143-318.11 (a)(1), or closed sessions about personnel matters (N.C.G.S. 143-318.11 (a)(6). The sound recordings for each purpose of a closed session shall be kept separately to facilitate public disclosure of the sound recording of those portions of a closed session which may be disclosed. The sound recording of closed sessions shall be held in a confidential file by the Clerk to the Board until either the County Attorney or the Board of Commissioners has determined that public inspection would not frustrate the purpose of the closed session which was recorded. The sound recording of a closed session shall be reclassified as no longer needing to be held in confidence when the minutes of the closed session have been reclassified as provided below. Disclosure of Minutes of Closed Sessions Commissioner James said he thinks the current policy regarding Closed Sessions is “flawed” in the sense that it does not require the recording of closed session on matters that may be of interest to the public. Commissioner James said he supports Alternate Two, which would only allow certain categories of closed sessions to be recorded. Commissioner Clarke expressed concern for the amount of additional administrative work this will put on the Clerk and the County Attorney. Commissioner Clarke said he also feels that as a matter of public policy of the state of N.C. that it’s important and a good idea to have uniform state law and uniform requirements applicable to the subdivisions of the state. He said state law is very clear on what the board is to do and that “we do it and do it well.” He stated further that he feels the Board will find itself with a lot of difficult questions to answer about things that the Board would not be able to find any guidance for in the statute or case law in N.C. if it decides to record closed session. Commissioner Clarke said in a way what this request is asking for is a different style of minutes (verbatim) than what the Board currently receives. He said it would be like having a court reporter present. Commissioner Clarke said he can understand why the news media and others would like to have this, including the public. He said the public should be able to not only know what we decided but every thought process, the tongues in which things were spoken, the actual words used, that went into making that decision; but the law doesn’t require that. Commissioner Clarke said the Board should not go beyond what’s required. Chairman Roberts said she would be interested in knowing the N.C. Association of County Commissioners take on this matter and what other counties are doing. 2 JANUARY 6, 2009 County Manager Jones said as a management team, staff certainly wants to support transparency in government. County Manager Jones said he would have to rely on feedback from the Clerk with respect to how much this will require of her administratively with respect to additional resources that may be needed. Clerk to the Board Paige said this would create more work for the Clerk’s Division and explained the procedure staff would have to go through to ensure that topics discussed during closed session are recorded separately. Clerk to the Board Paige said she spoke with her counterpart in Wake County and was informed Wake does not record closed session, or Pitt County, which is where Wake’s Clerk was prior to going to Wake. Clerk to the Board Paige said if the Board desires more details in Closed Session minutes, then she can do that. It was noted that currently the minute format used for closed session and open session is action minutes. Clerk to the Board Paige said there are examples of where she has prepared detailed closed session minutes, however, she didn’t bring them. Also, that the amount of detail usually is based on the subject matter. Commissioner Cogdell commented on the importance of transparency. He also noted that based on feedback from County Attorney Bethune, currently there’s nothing to prevent a commissioner from recording closed session on their own and/or releasing that information, either in full or in part. Further, that the release of that information or partial information, may not fairly represent the context of what was said by someone in closed session. Commissioner Cogdell said if you did have a recording or transcript of everything that was said “at least that at some point in time, on some issues, that could get released and you would get the full context of what was said and not a portion of something that may get released for some type of political consideration, by anyone.” Commissioner Murrey asked was it correct that any commissioner could record, edit, and release any portion of the closed session that they chose too. Attorney Bethune said per his research of state law, there’s nothing to prohibit that from occurring. Commissioner Murrey said if that’s the case what’s the purpose of closed session. Attorney Bethune said “there’s an assumption in state law that county commissioners will keep confidential that which is discussed in closed session, but it is not written in the law.” Commissioner Murrey asked “in other cases where there’s an assumption that a public official would behave in a certain manner and the public official doesn’t carry out according to that assumption; are there any consequences of that;” or “is it an assumption of a certain degree of ethical obligation.” The response was that it was the latter. Commissioner Murrey asked was it true that if either of the alternates was adopted that it still would not preclude a commissioner from recording it, editing it, and releasing whatever they chose to release. The response was yes that’s true. Commissioner Murrey asked Commissioner James what would be the difference in his mind from having detailed minutes or even transcripts created, as opposed to tapes. Commissioner James said his reason for wanting to record closed session is because “I think the minutes are inadequate.” Commissioner James said this was not a reflection on the Clerk, but for example, the Board may spend an hour discussing say the Third Ward property or a Jerry Reese matter, but the minutes would not reflect the full discussion. He said he feels the public should know how the Board reaches its conclusion. 3 JANUARY 6, 2009 Commissioner James said he doesn’t “see that recording and releasing when appropriate is a huge problem.” He said he understands there may be some additional cost and would recommend using digital media. Commissioner Clarke asked Clerk to the Board Paige could not the Board asks for changes to be made to the minutes if it was felt that additions or changes needed to be made. The response was yes. All a board member has to do is bring it to the attention of the Clerk at the meeting of which those minutes are being considered for approval.

Load more

  540

Copy Link